LXG: The Horde of Alucard
by docturlough
Summary: A Thief, A Phantom, A Raven, A Hunter, A legend and an adventurer join forces to battle the greatest threat mankind has ever faced, The Horde. The first few chapters are an introduction to the new cast.T for possible Strong swearing in later chapters.
1. Epilogue: Evermore

Phileas Fogg held in his uninjured hand a newspaper, announcing the news of Queen Victoria's death, the royal sons would have been an ideal target for an assassination attempt, creating a political vacuum, however, a great disaster had befallen London, six bankers were seen walking from their posts late in the evening, their skin a pale white and their hands stained with blood. Inside the bank, every worker was found dead, their throats torn open. People walking in had to wade through a river of blood created by the killer. On the wall was the only clue, a handprint containing only three fingers. Inspecting the corpses was Dr. John Watson, former assistant of famous detective Sherlock Holmes, before his untimely demise. Watson inspected the handprint and judged three things with skills learned from his friend. He deduced that it was not a handprint, but a paw print, a monkeys to be exact, he also judged that it had four fingers, but one was curled into the palm, causing the image that stood before Scotland Yard, he also found, caked in the blood, a stem of some plant, probably peeled from the monkey's fur. He took it with him and gave it a close investigation, vowing to determine its origin.

Fogg read the abridged version of this story in The Times with great interest. The nature of the murders were strange, as no monkey fur was found, no money was taken, and if a killer could kill with such brutality, why not target someone of greater power. Fogg judged that an investigation team not bound by laws and rules needed to be formed. Since he had become the new leader of The League a year ago, Agent Sawyer had gone back to America, Mina Harker had gone on some venture to Asia, Nemo had retreated to the sea, Skinner had disappeared, an easy task for a person like him, and Dr Jekyll had been kidnapped in Edinburgh. Fogg would have to generate a new League from scatch. He already had the first member in mind, and as he walked to his cage, he wrote out a letter to be delivered. He opened the cage and the first member jumped onto his forearm. Fastening the note to his leg, Fogg spoke to him gently, having a certain affinity for the raven.

"Evermore, my friend," He cooed "I need this to be delivered to a boat on its way to Austrailia. Do me this kindness, my friend."

As Evermore flew across London, he could already see the ship in his mind, and a plan of action formed in his mind. For a crow, he was especially intelligent.

…..

Amongst the screams of Britain's most terrible criminals, Irene Adler sat in her cell, trying to think of an escape, her mind raced as possibility upon possibility cascaded through her mind. She was torn from her revelry by the fluttering of feathers above her, and she looked up to see the coal-coloured bird looming on her from the window of the boat.

"Do you have a name, bird?" She asked, not expecting an answer, which made it all the stranger when Quoth the Raven "Evermore."


	2. Irene Adler

Irene Adler had to admit, she was taken aback at a raven speaking, but she had seen a lot in her life, and was not all that surprised at this. She stood and unwrapped a piece of paper from around the bird's foot, and upon turning to read it, Evermore hopped down onto her shoulder. She read the neat calligraphy she recognised as that of Phileas Fogg.

_Irene, my dear, I see you have found yourself in yet another predicament, I hope my accomplice here reaches you before you try one of your wonderfully complicated escape attempts. His majesty's government is willing to give you amnesty for trying to steal the crown jewels on the grounds that you join our taskforce and recruit our next legionnaire, should you accept, go to Paris, your mode of transport is of no concern and we excuse any crimes committed as long as no one is killed._

_ Best wishes,_

_ P.F_

Irene read the words with a joy in her heart, excusing all crimes committed, what a dream come true. She called the guard towards he cell and showed him the letter, being sure to point out specific phrases before grabbing him by the back of the head and smashing his face against the bars. As he collapsed, Irene pulled the keys from his belt and undid the locks of her cell, she stepped out, and robbed the guard of any and all moneys on him, and also a rifle he was carrying. She never could stand these clunking creations, having to be reloaded every few moments, and new powder loaded in. She had to admit, however, that they made very good clubs, as she proved on three guards before making her way towards the helm; Evermore flew next to her the whole time. She leapt at the captain of the prison ship and broke his jaw on the butt of the gun, which finally broke under her strength. She grabbed the wheel of the ship and spun it off course, heading directly towards Paris to recruit the fourth, and most theatrical of the legionnaires.

…

Several weeks later, in Paris' opera populaire, thirty thousand people watched as their latest soprano, Paix Aigle, sung the aria from Romeo and Juliet, only for the trapdoor of the stage to open up and swallow her in a pillar of smoke and fire. The crowd looked horrified as they fled and screamed for release, the opera house itself had been filled with rumours and legends of the past that many believed true. The crowd broke free of the great doors and ran in a state of panic through Paris's streets, as from the lyre of the statue of Apollo on the roof, two burning red eyes watched them, before turning to see to his prisoner.

…..

_**AUTHORS NOTE: My favourite thing about this "chapter" (I think it's too small to call it that) is the opera singers name, Paix means Peace, as does the name Irene. Also Aigle means eagle, as does the name Adler. Can you tell who it is yet? By the way, chapters will get longer after every character is introduced.**_


	3. The Phantom

The Parisian midnight's silence was broken by the screams of the Opera Populaire's patrons. As the people ran off into the darkness, a flittering shape of legend moved into a trap door, concealed beneath the statue of Pegasus. Erik, the Phantom moved beneath through the catacombs and cellars, working his way towards his new prize. Since the loss of his last love to the Viscount de Changy, Erik was feeling lonely. He needed companionship, if he could not have love. As he emerged from the back entrance of the house on the lake, he saw the soprano lain out before him, crouched in the folds of her Stuart-style gown. Her blonde hair turned up in a massive beehive. As Erik saw her, her voice filled his mind as he had heard her. The silvery notes dancing beneath her talented vocal abilities. He saw her, and she turned to him, she looked him in the mask and did not die. Things were going well already.

As Paix Aigle saw the thin man step into the light, his full form came into view. He was thin as a rake, but the jet-black cloak draped over his shoulders helped to conceal that. He wore a very wide-brimmed hat on his head with a large feather pointing out. On a sash on his waist he wore a cutlass, but the most striking feature of his, was that on his face, he wore a grey mask that covered all but his chin. His chin itself was pale and shrunken, like a corpse's. And his neck beat with his breath, torn and rotten flesh strewn wildly. The most shocking thing about the whole situation was that none of this surprised Mademoiselle Aigle in the slightest.

"Paix Aigle," The Phantom spoke, in a voice so soft and pure it could have never belonged to such a face as this. "You are a vision, my child. A perfect, angelic vision."

Paix stood and tore the blond hair from her head, revealing her shoulder-length brown beneath it. She pulled on a string on her corset and the heavy silk folds of her gown dropped, revealing a simple dress beneath.

"Erik Claudin, the crown of England requires your assistance."

The fury of The Phantom was legendary; it was the fury that killed dozens in a chandelier incident. It was the fury that hung Joseph Bouquet, a worker at the opera, among many others. And now The Phantom's fury was directed at her, Irene Adler, a thief who had become an agent of the crown as a favour.

"Who are you? ! !" The Phantom bellowed in a voice from the caverns of hell itself.

"My name is Irene Adler," She spoke with a confidence she did not possess. "I am the emissary of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a task force headed in this incarnation by Phileas Fogg."

The Phantoms fury subsided. "I am familiar with The Leagues work at the Rue Morgue some years ago. I was a personal friend of Dr Jekyll. I can not say as much for his…entourage."

"We are facing a threat greater than Mr Hyde, Erik. We have need of your skills in infiltration, disguises and theatrics."

Erik's interest piqued at the last word.

"Ah, what is life without theatrics? A droning event of no significance. If there is to be an occasion as momentous as this, then there must be a fantastic backdrop. I will provide it, for the sake of theatrics."

A grin stretched across Erik's shrunken face. A moment where his deformity became all the less noticeable. His passion overcame him and he walked towards her, until they were face to face.

"May I ask you're name, if not Paix Aigle?" His voice was silky soft again, like warm milk.

"My name is Irene Adler." Her eyes, usually so hard, with an authority to match her male cohorts, softened and melted into his gaze.

"The thief." He said. Not with contempt, but with a respect that the skill of thievery deserved.

Evermore flew across the lake, his talons dragging over the wax-like water, Irene expected it to land on her shoulder. Instead, it perched itself on Erik's gloved finger.

"We are to be on the surface at half past the hour." Irene said, stroking the raven's back.

"Then we must go now, if we are to make this appointment with Fogg."

Irene wondered how Erik arrived at this conclusion, but as he lead her through his home, grabbing items he may yet need, she saw his writings, his poems, his songs, his paintings and his masks, she saw his genius expressed. She saw a man beyond the face of the monster.

…..

As Erik and Irene reached the roof of the Opera Populaire, just as the guards summoned by the screaming masses, were approaching the main gates. A wonderful device was atop the opera house. Irene was slightly shocked at this behemoth of human construction. A boat was tied by rope to some kind of dome, but not of glass, but some sort of plastic.

"What is this?"

"It is known as an airship. A French device. A wonder, I have often attempted to build one, but am unable to obtain the schematics."

From the barge stepped Phileas Fogg, looking more haggard than Irene had ever seen him, his arm in a sling. Irene stepped forward and shook his hand and Erik bowed his head as they entered. Evermore flew to the Captains quarters and into a cage perched on a desk within. Phileas turned numerous cranks and dials as a jet of flame shot up into the centre of the dome, illuminating the entire rooftop. The guards reached the rooftop of the opera house just as the airship flew off into the night.

"Where are we to go now?" Irene asked the captain at the helm, Phileas.

"We have a few more people to recruit; one of them is a heartbroken drunk in America. He will need our help the most."

…

Faking your own death is simple, if you are unknown. As Quincey Morris sat at the bar of the Stoker Inn in Virginia, the thoughts of his lost Lucy came to him, and he swallowed whiskey to chase them away. When he finished drinking, long into the night by now, he went to bed. It was at that moment that a pack of black wolves padded into Virginia, their red eyes blazing in the moonlight.


End file.
